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Community Education

RPBO is committed to providing public education on birds, conservation and related issues.

Bird Monitoring and Banding Workshops

Each spring RPBO offers an introductory bird monitoring and banding workshop.

The 3-day workshop focuses on bird identification, monitoring procedures and techniques, sexing and ageing. Components include owl monitoring and banding demo and an optional session on study skin preparation. The program has been developed for people with little or no bird handling and/or banding experience, but those with intermediate skills will also find the workshop a good way to build knowledge.

This is an excellent opportunity for undergraduates, graduate students, bird observatory volunteers and naturalists to explore aspects of the operation of an avian monitoring project, including bird safety, mistnetting, data collection, bird banding, identification, sexing and ageing.  This is an introductory course and participants should not expect to emerge from this short workshop as qualified banders.  Much of the work will be with frozen and dried bird specimens although there will be some opportunities to work with live birds to learn safe bird handling and basic banding techniques. Skills practiced in this workshop will be beneficial for a variety of projects including productivity, survivorship and migration monitoring field work.

Public Events

RPBO participates in a number of community events in conjunction with other naturalist, scientific and conservation organizations.

We held our first International Migratory Bird Day events at Witty's Lagoon on May 8, 2010! Watch for notification of the 2011 event.

Presentations and Demonstrations

Slideshow presentations, birding walks and banding demonstrations for your school or organization can be arranged by contacting rpbo@rpbo.org.